Housing meant for temporary foreign workers employed on a Canadian farm will now have to pass regular inspection before the farm can hire its workers. One of the requirements for farms hiring temporary foreign workers (TFWs) is that the farm provide workers with “adequate, suitable and affordable housing as defined by the Canadian Mortgage and […] Read more
Ottawa tightens rules on housing foreign farm workers
Canada welcomes Trump suggestion of NAFTA deadline extension
London, Ont. | Reuters — Canada welcomes the suggestion by U.S. President Donald Trump that the deadline for concluding talks to modernize NAFTA could be extended beyond the end of March, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Friday. Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that “a lot of things are hard to […] Read more
Canada talks tough on trade as NAFTA talks’ endgame nears
London, Ont. | Reuters — Canada is talking tough with the U.S., stressing its determination to push back against what it says are unfair trade practices ahead of crucial talks to revamp the tri-nation North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S., Canadian and Mexican officials meet this month for the sixth and penultimate round of talks […] Read more
Canadian companies struggle to plan for post-NAFTA world
Toronto | Reuters — Canadian industries that would be most acutely impacted by the death of the North American Free Trade Agreement are unable to meaningfully plan for a possible post-NAFTA world given the uncertainty of what could replace it, analysts and executives said. With three quarters of Canadian exports landing in the U.S., the […] Read more
Canada taking U.S. to WTO in complaint over trade remedies
Geneva | Reuters — Canada has launched a wide-ranging trade dispute against the United States, challenging Washington’s use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties, Canada said in a WTO filing dated Dec. 20 and published on Wednesday. Canada appeared to be mounting a case on behalf of the rest of the world, since it cited almost […] Read more
Ontario farmers want voice on high-speed rail
Ontario farmers and rural residents want a place on the advisory board on the creation of a high-speed railway line expected to significantly affect their farms and communities. The province has appointed business, municipal and indigenous groups to the board, but farm organizations, such as the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), are calling for representation […] Read more
Better trade deals coming for U.S. farmers, Trump says
In a 40-minute speech to the United States’ biggest farm organization, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about free trade for 49 seconds. In 120 words Trump told the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting Monday in Nashville he was working to get U.S. farmers better trade deals. “To level the playing field for our great […] Read more
Sector growth to occupy Ontario ag minister in 2018
Ontario’s Liberals will have their agriculture standard-bearer back for the 2018 election. Jeff Leal, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, is staying in politics, running for his fifth term as a member of the provincial legislature in the Peterborough riding. Leal, who as a resident of Peterborough is about as rural as any […] Read more
Feed manufacturers to retool recipes under vitamin shortage
Feed manufacturers up against a global shortage of vitamins A and E will be able to temporarily reformulate their products for sale in Canada without a complete rewrite of their product labels. The shortage stems from an Oct. 31 fire during the startup of an aroma chemicals plant operated by global chemical firm BASF in […] Read more
NAFTA Washington talks said to leave major differences untouched
Washington | Reuters — Talks this week to update the North American Free Trade Agreement made some progress on less-controversial chapters and technical language, but did little to resolve deep differences on autos, dispute settlement and a five-year sunset clause, some participants said on Friday. The “intersessional” round in Washington, which did not include trade […] Read more